Nakba (The 1948 War)

Commonly referred to as ‘al-Nakba’ (Arabic for ‘the Catastrophe’), the 1948 War was a foundational event affecting the future of the Palestinian people. Following the rejection of the 1947 UN Partition Plan by Arab states who deemed the plan an international acceptance of a colonial movement (Zionism) taking over the land of the indigenous Palestinian people, fighting began between Arab and Zionist forces. By early April 1948, the Zionist forces had secured control over most of the territory allotted to the Jewish state in the UN plan. After proclaiming the State of Israel in May and through the fighting that followed, Zionist forces began to go on the offensive, conquering territory beyond the agreed partition borders that was meant to be part of a future Palestinian state.

During the conflict and with the establishment of the Israeli state, 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes or fled the war. The lands and property left behind were seized by Israel which immediately enacted measures to prevent the refugees from returning to their lands. This mass expulsion and prevention of return is referred to as ethnic cleansing by many historians. In 1948, the Palestinian refugee problem and the legal-political regime of fragmentation, dispossession and ethnic discrimination which serves as the basis of Israeli policy towards Palestinians were both born.

As such, the Nakba refers not only to the events of 1948, but to the lasting repercussions of the 1948 war, namely the ongoing fragmentation, dispossession, and displacement of Palestinians. It serves as a basis of the struggle for Palestinian liberation and is thus commemorated every year on May 15th. Israel’s genocidal assault in Gaza over the past year since October 2023 arguably forms the most violent and deadly escalation in the ongoing Nakba that the Palestinians have faced in their history.